Donovan Mitchell and 4 other stars fighting for their first All-NBA Team

First All-NBA Team: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Quite a few people likely picked Donovan Mitchell as a dark horse candidate to make an All-NBA team this season. How many had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? The Oklahoma City Thunder looked like candidates to tank after Chet Holmgren went down for the year, but instead “SGA” is carry the offense and the defense has been stout.

Gilgeous-Alexander is putting up 31.1 points per game, has a bonkers PER of 28.8 and is helping across the board to help his team win. He leads the league in drives per game by a country mile, forcing defenses into rotation and then praying the ball to open shooters. If he had even an average shooting team around him his 5.8 assists per game would be at 8 or 9.

Status: On Track

First All-NBA Team: Desmond Bane

A few other guards are putting up strong seasons and belong to be in this conversation. De’Aaron Fox is breaking out for the frisky Sacramento Kings and Tyrese Haliburton has been a pick-and-roll maestro for the Indiana Pacers. At the end of the day, however, to sneak onto the All-NBA teams you either have to be MVP-level good, or you need to be on a dominant team.

That’s why Desmond Bane gets the nod here. He has taken yet another step forward, a wild development for a player taken 30th overall just three years ago. Bane is averaging 24.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, expanding his on-ball game and continuing to play solid defense. He is 20th in the league in EPM and is a part of many of the Grizzlies’ best lineups. Out for a couple of weeks with an injury, Bane will need to pick things back up where he left off when he returns and hope Memphis comes away with the best record in the league.

Status: Work to Do